Book Reviews

The Vikings

by: Elizabeth Janeway             This was a pretty good book.  I read it aloud to my 4th grader for his history and I think we both considered it time well spent.  Probably me more than he but only because he’s a young boy who would rather be up to his armpits in...

Confessions (F.J. Sheed translation)

by Saint Augustine of Hippo             I’ve tried a couple of translations of this book over the years and I’m not sure if I’m just in a place where my mind was finally ready for this book or if it was Sheed’s translation, but I really clicked with this book.  I’ve...

Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Dr. John Bergsma I got this for Christmas. It was as great as I hoped it would be.Doctor Bergsma is an Old Testament and Dead Sea Scrolls specialist and a teacher at Franciscan University. You can tell how fascinating and exciting he finds all this and his...

Fearing the Stigmata

by Matt Weber It does seem that really young people and really old people have a good handle on their faith/life whereas those of us in the middle are still working on how to Catholic in our post-Christian culture.This book was about one man’s story of searching for...
Amos Fortune: Free Man

Amos Fortune: Free Man

by Elizabeth Yates This book was excellent! One of my favorite things about the curriculum we use is the heavy use of books like this one that do a great job of bringing the historical context to life.So with this book, we were taken from a village in Africa where...

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The Whipping Boy

The Whipping Boy

by Sid Fleischman  When buying books for the next school year, there was a Sid Fleischman book on the list that I purchased which must have been what made Ebay suggest “The Whipping Boy” to me. I forgot all about this book! It was one of my favorites as a kid.Happily,...

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The Black Arrow

The Black Arrow

by Robert Louis Stevenson             The novel opens with the murder of a man by a black arrow.  A letter is later found attached to a door that informed the reader that more men were marked for the black arrows - a powerful and crafty knight named Sir Daniel and two...

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Tranquility by Tuesday

Tranquility by Tuesday

by Laura Vanderkam             I heard an interview with Laura Vanderkam on Jon Acuff’s podcast.  Since I’m going through a very busy and disorganized season of my life, it sounded as though her...

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King Solomon’s Ring

King Solomon’s Ring

by Konrad Lorenz My daughter read this book for her high school science class. She so enjoyed the book she told me all about it practically verbatim. Her stories peaked my interest and since I had a little free summer reading time, I thought I'd give it a read. It was...

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The Treasure Seekers

The Treasure Seekers

by E. Nesbit I came across this author, E. Nesbit, on a list of suggested reading by the woman who designed the curriculum I’m using this year. She’s got excellent taste and my daughter, always devouring books, is in need of some new reading material. We’re using it...

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Money Secrets

Money Secrets

by Dave Barry I bought this book – in particular – because someone in the reviews said they bought it thinking it was a serious book on money and it had them in hysterics when they started reading it and realized it was humor. That just tickled me.This book was...

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The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows

by Kenneth Graham             For the kids, this started a bit slow.  As an adult who loves beautiful language, I loved it from the first word.  This book followed the adventures of Rat,...

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Bound for Oregon

Bound for Oregon

Jean Van Leeuwen             This was based on the true story of a girl named Mary Ellen Todd who made the journey on the Oregon Trail from Arkansas to Oregon with her family.  (Her family was related to President Lincoln's wife.). This was a fascinating book.  There...

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